Sunday, 23 February 2014

Really close friends of ours are expecting. They have decided to be surprised on the day so we don't know if we are planning for a boy or a girl.
I decided I really wanted to make something that would/could be around for a long time and would suit whatever nursery colours they ended up having.
I have included the pattern I used at the bottom of this post.

I used bamboo cotton so it can be washed often.

I've always liked ripple blankets and thought they were much harder than this, but I would recommend them to anyone!

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PATTERN
With white, chain about 1.5 times as wide as you want your blanket to be. Don't worry if it is too long- you can always cut off the excess of your chain once you've started you valleys and peaks and can see how much you like.

I like three single crochet up the side of the hill, 3 crochet into the next single crochet, then three single crochet don the other side of the hill. Then, to make the valley, skip two single crochet and start the three going up the hill again.

At the last "side" of a peak you'll need to skip a single crochet and then turn as normal and skip another as you up the side again- otherwise your piece gradually increases- something I missed the first time I tried this.

Here is the pattern, properly laid out:

Row 1: With white , single crochet (sc) in 2nd chain (ch) from hook, sc in next 2 ch,
*3 sc in next ch, sc in next 3 ch, skip (sk) next 2 ch, sc in next 3 ch; repeat
from * to last 4 ch, 3 sc in next ch, sc in next 3 ch - 13 ripples.Row 2:
Ch 1, turn, skip (sk) first st, sc in next 3 sts, *3 sc in next st, sc in next
3 sts, sk next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts; rep from * to last 5 sts, 3 sc
in next st, sc in next 2 sts, sk next st, sc in last st.

Then I did 6 rows of white and two of the colours.
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Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Whilst I didn't do too badly in terms of sales it just reinforces to me that I do not like face to face selling. I much prefer on-line selling, where people can choose and buy and I do not have to smile manfully when they pick up my wares, turn them about in their hands and then put it down again. Arg, it kills me.
And then I get all weird when they do want to buy something. Like I want to warn them off, or something. Daft.

Sunday, 14 April 2013

I have been eyeing chevron (zigzag) quilts for a while now and the immanent arrival of my sisters baby gave me a great excuse to try this kind of quilt. I could also use plenty of the fabric left over from my Polaroid Quilt.
I looked for tutorials online but struggled a bit to understand them, so I thought I would add a quick bit of help for anyone who would like to make a similar zigzag quilt.

Chevron Quilt Tutorial:

To start I chose 2 contrasting fabrics, a white and a blue stripe cotton. Cut them into squares.

Lay the fabrics on top of each other with the right sides facing each other. Then draw a pencil line from corner to corner. Trust me, you want to draw this line- I have tried eyeballing it, it it is waaaay too hard.

Now, sew two straight seams on either side of the pencil line. I used the edge of my presser foot to guide me to keep the stitches parallel with the pencil line. I have done it in red thread to make it easier for you to see:

Cut down the pencil line to create two triangles:

Open out the triangles to form squares again. I ironed them open and I trimmed the corners to make them square. I don't think this is strictly necessary but it helped me to then start treating them as one piece.

And this is where it gets interesting. In the next two photo's I've shown you how these two triangles add together to form the pattern.

Lol! So, I only made 1 set of triangles but I used a bit of Gimp photo magic to show you how this all fits together to make the quilt:

And on to the quilt shots: (What a kind husband/clothes line!)

It was pretty overcast (yay UK!), so the colours are a bit odd but here is a close up of the quilt itself.

I used a lazy binding which is simply awesome. I folded over the backing towards the front quilt piece. (It's like wrapping a present but you fold it over from the back, making nice corners with an iron). I then top stitched the whole lot down. It saved me from the inevitable heartache of fighting with binding and is MUCH neater than I have ever achieved.

I used a deep red spotty fabric for the reverse and added my own label so the baby will know its from me in years to come.

I really like the spotty fabric as a backing because it shows off the quilting I did in the ditch of the seams:

Thanks husband! No need to look so scary ;)

Leave a comment if you have any questions on how to make this type of quilt. It comes together far faster than expected and it feels awesome to see it take shape.

Monday, 18 March 2013

My Plush Dinosaur with Sewing Pattern has been one of my most read posts on this blog - Thanks to everyone who has linked to it! I promised to showcase the gorgeous dino's you made following the tutorial, so here we go, feast your eyes on the happy Dino goodness!

Absolutely in love! Thank you to everyone, including these great sites for mentioning me:
http://superstinkyboys.blogspot.com/2011/06/dino-rama.html
http://prettyshabbyuk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/collection-of-stuffed-animal-tutorials.html

Got a dino to show? Let me know in the comments here or on the Dino tutorial. You comments and links are a great encouragement for those of us who have blogs- keep it up lovely people! :)

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I like to try pretty much anything crafty as long as it is fueled by tea. I'm a South African living in Oxfordshire, England and when I'm not staring bleakly at the rain I'm adventuring into crusty sci-fi, all sorts of sewing, painting, crocheting and a bit of wood work. And spending way too much time trawling craft and DIY websites!I am a passionate believer in not only a handmade UK but a handmade world.

All my patterns are my own. You are welcome to use them for yourself but if you intend to sell the creations made from my patterns please leave a comment or message me and we'll arrange something.

Some of the items shown here can be found in my shop and I love commissions so contact me!